In a three month trail, Qantas Airways has announced they will allow domestic passengers to use their mobile phones in flight. Passengers will not know if their flight allows the usage before they board. But once on board passengers will be able to use SMS and email services from their mobile phone; voice calling will be restricted. Qantas has not announced any plans to restrict incoming SMS or email message tones
The Qantas trial is one of the first of its kind in the world; Emirates and Ryanair have announced plans to follow suit later this year. The test will be conducted on one of Qantas’ Boeing 767s in the upcoming weeks.
If the trial is successful, it is likely Qantas will enable mobile phone use on all of its flights, and it has not ruled out allowing voice calls.
And this is where Qantas turned me off on the idea. If business travelers want to use their email and SMS services that’s fine by me, as long as they put the incoming alerts on vibrate. However, allowing passengers to conduct phone calls might not sit so well with the other half of the traveling public. Some business people want to work on board, while others want to catch up on some sleep. A difficult balancing act is likely to ensue.
This is only for Qantas domestic passengers on unknown flights.
Sydney Morning Herald
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